Editing Silence Protocol


The Silence Protocol is a process by which [[Psy]] children are mentally programmed not to feel or acknowledge their emotions. It was implemented roughly a hundred years before the start of ''[[Slave to Sensation (book)|Slave to Sensation]]'' in a last ditch effort to save the race from widespread insanity which threatened to consume them.

==Silence Timeline==
*date? — Mercury cult forms, proclaiming that Silence would save the Psy race from insanity.  The cult was scorned as fanatics, but over the decades they gained respect and came to be thought of as a think tank.<ref name=":0" />
*circa 1940s — Mercury study begins — a longitudinal Silence trial study.  The first two Silent Psy were the Adelaja twins, Tendaji and Naeem, who eventually committed suicide (Caressed by Ice)
*date uncertain —  [[Zaid Adelaja]] becomes the first [[Arrows|Arrow]] and the Arrow squad is born in secret to protect Silence
*date uncertain — several members of the [[Psy Council]] are Mercury-trained believers
*1969 - “the Psy Council proposed, in the year 1969, to instigate the Silence Protocol” (Mine to Possess). A decade of debate ensued, while following the Mercury study results, which were falsified.
*1972 - “Catherine and Arif Adelaja appeared in public for the first time in a decade —- with their twins, Tendaji and Naeem. The boys are teenagers, strong and quite beautiful. And they are Silent. Arif made a speech. . .”(BoM)
*1973 -  opposing Silence, the [[Forgotten]] exit the PsyNet and hide in their ShadowNet
*1979 - Silence Protocol signed into law 1979 by [[Psy Council]]
*date uncertain — the goal of Silence changes from sanity to also include perfection, flawed children are disposed of
*1979-2082 - the era of Silence, enforced by [[Psy Council]] and The Arrow Squad
*2082- Fall of Silence

<br>See also [[The Timeline]]

==Rationale==
The Silence Protocol was enforced to eliminate emotions from the [[Psy|Psy race]]. Originally, all Psy felt emotion, as their race was originally human, before they began to manifest high levels of intuition, followed by telepathy and other  psychic abilities.   The more emotional a Psy individual  was, the less control they had over their mental  powers. Also a person&apos;s mental state would bleed into others through the [[PsyNet]], sometimes causing them to lose control as well. Losing control over one&apos;s abilities could easily cause a person to unintentionally harm or even kill. This created a dangerous loop where people would lose control of their powers, hurt others, and then feel horrible about doing so. After a while people&apos;s minds would break under the constant pressure and they would go truly mad, causing even more anguish.

== Mercury ==
Silence was originally proposed by a cult-like group of secretive fanatics before the Silence Protocol went into effect.
<blockquote> “It was initially raised by a cultlike group named Mercury.” No one had taken them seriously at the time. However, two decades after publishing their idea, Mercury produced their first successful subjects. The test graduates were only teenagers and the conditioning was prone to failure, but they were enough to change things. Mercury stopped being referred to as a cult by the majority and started being spoken of as a think tank. It took one hundred years for them to morph into a group of visionaries, the saviors of the Psy. “The first pro-Silence Council was dominated by acolytes of Mercury. Two were graduates of their beta version of the Protocol.”<ref name=":0" /></blockquote> 

The Mercury experimental trial period came first, before the Silence Protocol. Silence was the outcome, the brainchild of Mercury.  This  secretive research group was founded by Catherine and Arif Adelaja after the death of their infant daughter at the hands of a family friend.  She had suffered a psychotic break and, for reasons unknown, used her telepathy to shatter the baby’s mind.  Since emotional outbursts can lead to a loss of psychic control, Catherine and Arif conditioned their sons not to feel emotion at all.  This meant that their children were in full control of their powers and not a danger to others.

The first two Silent Psy were the Adelaja twins, Tendaji and Naeem. Sixteen years after their reveal, they commit suicide, Tendaji killing first his brother, then himself. They left only a note, which would never reach the public, because their elder brother [[Zaid Adelaja]] covered up their suicide and destroyed their note, to preserve the myth of silence. 
<blockquote>We are an abomination, a plague that will kill our people from within. Silence must never take root, must never infiltrate the PsyNet. Forgive us.</blockquote>

==Silence Mandate==
In 1979, after a trial period under the Mercury Program and ten years of debate, the [[Silence Protocol]] was made mandatory for all members of the PsyNet under the age of six. Everyone born after 1971 was automatically enrolled in the program.  Parents who did not comply risked losing their children to the state.<ref>[[Blaze of Memory (book)#Chapter 32|''Blaze of Memory'', Ch. 32]]</ref>
<blockquote> "IN THE YEAR 1979, the Psy race made the decision to embrace Silence and condition all emotion out of their young; to become without hope or despair, anger or fear, sorrow or joy. Mothers and fathers sentenced their children to lives of icy control out of a soul-deep love those children would never feel in return. They told their babies that Silence was a precious gift, that it would save them from the madness and violence that so often came intertwined with the staggering beauty of their psychic abilities." ([[Heart of Obsidian (book)]]  prologue) </blockquote>

*See also: [[Forgotten|The Forgotten]], who defected from the [[PsyNet]] to escape Silence, Arrows, etc.

==Methodology==

Silence training begins at birth, but it doesn't really take until a certain stage of development.<ref name=":0">[[Visions of Heat (book)#Chapter 13|''Visions of Heat'', Ch. 13]]</ref>  Psy children are telepathically programmed to feel pain, known as dissonance, anytime they feel emotion and then they are taught how to keep their equilibrium no matter what.  The depth and extent of the training vary from child to child; those with the strongest and most aggressive gifts are put on the harshest regimes.  Attempting to disable the Silence programming can literally cause the brain to explode.

Silence is typically attained by age sixteen, but Psy don't graduate from it until eighteen; the extra two years are a precaution.  Silence can happen sooner, such as [[Sienna Lauren]] who was Silent by age 9.

Psy who complete the protocol are expected to remain Silent for the rest of their lives, while those who &apos;fracture&apos; their conditioning are slated for &apos;rehabilitation.'

=== Dissonance ===
The core of Silence is based on Pavlov's research, using reward and punishment to condition the subjects.  Dissonance is the punishment, a pain reaction triggered when a Psy breaches Silence, and the term itself is not well-known among the Psy as articles on the subject are highly classified.<ref>[[Caressed by Ice (book)#Chapter 10|''Caressed by Ice'', Ch. 10]]</ref>

It's an alarm to tell the Psy to disengage in whatever he or she is doing and rebuild his or her shields.  It starts off small but gets stronger in intensity with time until it inflicts a harsh and crude form of rehabilitation,<ref>[[Caressed by Ice (book)#Chapter%2035|''Caressed by Ice'', Ch. 35]]</ref> however, the individual's pain threshold has to be astronomically high to reach that point.

The pain inflicted is fueled by the Psy's own abilities so if they're experiencing a flame-out they can feel without the backlash.<ref>[[Caressed by Ice (book)#Chapter 33|''Caressed by Ice'', Ch. 33]]</ref>

== Transition Period ==
Children under the age of seven at the time that Silence went into effect did not take to the Protocol well, more died than survived.<ref>[[Caressed by Ice (book)#Chapter 30|''Caressed by Ice'', Ch. 30]]</ref>  Adults were expected to adhere to it as best they could.  Empaths who stayed did not survive long.

Intercourse was still necessary for procreation, but as soon as science advanced enough that it wasn't necessary, the Psy moved to artificial insemination.  Since then, they became obsessed with developing stronger abilities in their offspring and eliminating any possible defects.

==Results and Consequences==
===Perfect, not Creative===
<blockquote> No Psy ever sang, ever attended a symphony. He’d heard it said that their voices were uniformly flat, but he didn’t believe it. No, what was more likely was that their voices had been flattened by Silence. ([[Blaze of Memory (book)]]) </blockquote> 

<blockquote> “It was less a decree than a subtle change in culture born at the top. The aim of Silence altered from mental survival to perfection.” (Last Guard) </blockquote> 

===Unethical Ambition===
Although Silence did drastically reduce the outbreaks of insanity and murders it also lead to a rise in sociopathic behavior. No longer allowed to feel joy or sorrow, the Psy channeled their energy into ruthless ambition and cut throat pragmatism. Ethical behavior soon went by the wayside because codes of honor were no longer being re-enforced by feelings of guilt. As a result, Psy came to dominate the worlds of business, government, and science.

===Diminished Designations===
This success came at a price. [[Empaths]], whose gifts lay in emotions, could not be conditioned and therefore were presumably Rehabilitated in large numbers. Without Empaths to help them recover from the futures they saw, [[Foreseers]] went insane on an even larger scale than they had prior to 1971.<ref>[[Visions of Heat (book)#Chapter 27|''Visions of Heat'', Ch. 27]]</ref> [[Anchors]] also began to suffer more mental and emotional pathology. <blockquote> “Have As always displayed a high incidence of physical and/or psychic defects?” A hard shake of his head. “The statistics I’ve unearthed say we were at about the same rate as the general population. It was only after Silence that anchor young began to be born either sick or with hidden genetic defects. Not all, but a slowly growing majority.” (Last Guard)</blockquote>Prior to Silence, spontaneous abilities would manifest in Psy children, but after modern fertilization offered more control over genetics, these variations have been removed from the population.<ref>[[Mine to Possess (book)#Epilogue|''Mine to Possess'', Epilogue]]</ref>

===The DarkMind===
The effects of Silence were seen on the psychic plane as well.  The PsyNet, once a vibrant colorful place, turned dark and the [[NetMind]] split into two entities. The new entity, known as the DarkMind, was made up of all the emotions that people were no longer allowed to feel or acknowledge. Whether this entity started out insane or simply became that way as a result of being ignored is unknown, but the consequences of its insanity are not. Desperate to be heard, the DarkMind sought out those with a sociopath bent and infected their mind with homicidal madness. The Anchors were particularly susceptible to this infection.

== Rehabilitation ==
Rehabilitation is a process that eliminates all emotions from a [[Psy]] and occurred at facilities called the Center.  The mildest form deletes large sections of memory, leaving most of the brain intact,<ref>[[Caressed by Ice (book)#Chapter%2036|''Caressed by Ice'', Ch. 36]]</ref> but harsher versions can extend into wiping higher level thinking through chemical lobotomization.<ref>[[Slave to Sensation (book)#Chapter 17|''Slave to Sensation'', Ch. 17]]</ref>  The Council sentenced Psy who did not comply with Silence - the defectives - to the process.  Those who emerged were wiped free of emotion and sometimes higher level thinking, and were employed in menial labor, unable to do anything more; some didn't survive.  The Psy Council sometimes disguised executions by sending the Psy in question for rehabilitation.

In the early days of Silence, the process was experimental and all survivors were reduced to a permanent vegetative state.<ref>[[Mine to Possess (book)#Prologue|''Mine to Possess'', Prologue]]</ref>

Because of the harsh programming in rehabilitation, the Psy Council hesitated to send those whose minds are extremely valuable, such as [[Ashaya Aleine]], whose scientific brilliance would be crushed by the process.  No one has successfully rebutted a Council rehabilitation order, however, some have been known to evade such orders, most notably the [[Lauren Family|Lauren family]].  Although these orders were ostensibly signed by the entire Council, the Councilors acted as individuals when giving orders.<ref>[[Kiss of Snow#Chapter%2027|''Kiss of Snow'', Ch. 27]]</ref>

Comprehensive rehabilitation goes one step further and burns out 98% of the victim's psychic senses.<ref>[[Bonds of Justice#Chapter%201|''Bonds of Justice'', Ch. 1]]</ref>

== Asceticism ==
Since flavours could strengthen preferences, leading to likes and dislikes, the Psy created their own tasteless food, scientifically calibrated for optimal nutrition and convenience.  Bland nutrition bars, soups, and drink mixes formed the core of the Psy diet.  Although, psychologists sometimes recommend a diet more varied than nutrition bars in isolated populations since brains need a certain amount of stimulation.<ref>[[Blaze of Memory#Chapter%2039|''Blaze of Memory'', Ch. 39]]</ref>  They only drank water or nutrient drinks.

They eschewed vibrant colours, tending towards monochromatic themes in their clothing, housing, interior design, etc.

Although parties were verboten, Psy were allowed to host cocktail parties for human or changeling clients to put them at ease.<ref>[[Bonds of Justice#Chapter 10|''Bonds of Justice'', Ch. 10]]</ref>

Yoga was a popular activity, which could have been appealing because of it's spiritual roots.

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Psy]]
[[Category:Concepts]]